Trees at the Marietta Campground covered with snow. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
We did get out and around East Cobb Sunday afternoon, as did many other East Cobbers needing food and other provisions (including Christmas trees) and trying to get back to normal.
Many businesses and restaurants were also open, and most roads with downed trees and power lines had been cleared.
As was reported earlier today, Cobb schools will be closed Monday, due to icy roads expected in the morning, and because some schools still do not have electrical power.
We haven’t gotten details on which schools were without power, but icy road conditions across the county are expected for Monday; temperatures are expected to reach into the low 50s, along with the same sunny skies we’ve had since Saturday.
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them, as well as business or other closings or cancellations. E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
As of 5:20 p.m. Sunday, Cobb EMC estimated that about 5,000 of its customers are still without power (outage map), and that a broken power line on Ebenezer Road in Northeast Cobb is still among those needing repair.
Earlier today we also noted that there was only one road in the county that was closed, and that was the roundabout at Holly Springs Road and Davis Road. It was open when we drove through there shortly after 3 p.m. (photo just below); if you’re heading north on Holly Springs you may notice a few tree limbs hanging close to a power line, which apparently had been the cause of the closure.
We then traveled eastbound on Shallowford Road, from Sandy Plains to Johnson Ferry, there were some patches of ice, since there wasn’t a lot of direct sunshine. In particular, there were icy spots in the right eastbound lane on Shallowford between Sandy Plains and Lassiter Road, so if you’re in that area, take precautions and slow down, especially at the intersections of Wesley Chapel Road, North Hembree Road and Old Suttons Way (just below).
Johnson Ferry Road was well traveled around 3:30 p.m., and as traffic increased for the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Christmas Festival service that began at 4 p.m. There’s another service at 7 p.m., and there are police officers directing traffic.
Heading westbound on Lower Roswell Road was almost pure slush, especially between Indian Hills Parkway and Old Canton Road. Unlike Shallowford, this stretch of Lower Roswell was getting a lot of direct sunlight, but with temperatures freezing overnight it figures to be treacherous for Monday morning traffic.
Here’s what we have on openings/closings for Monday as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Please e-mail your news/photos to: editor@eastcobbnews.com:
Cobb public libraries will be open;
St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church preschool and St. Ann Catholic preschool are closed Monday;
Classes at The Walker School are closed Monday. The U.S. Science exam will start at 12pm, the campus will open to U.S. arrivals at 11:30am. This is the only exam tomorrow and includes 8th grade students taking the Biology exam. The Lower School chorus concert will occur as planned at 7 p.m.;
Ronald Sachs Violins will be open from 3-6 on Monday;
High Meadows Schools will be closed Monday;
East Cobb Pediatrics will be open on Monday;
A Monday holiday concert of the Sprayberry High School chorus also is cancelled since there will be no school tomorrow.
Students (and we hope some adults!) get to enjoy a continuation of a most unexpected winter wonderland in East Cobb, two weeks before Christmas.
The entrance to the Willow Ridge subdivision at Robinson Road.
Send news of opening/closing/cancellations and photos of the snow near you to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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Cobb schools posted this notice on its Twitter account just a few moments ago:
All Cobb County schools are closed Monday, December 11, for both students and staff, due to continued power outages at multiple schools and poor travel conditions on secondary roads in the northern part of the county.
ORIGINAL REPORT, POSTED 12:47 P.M. SUNDAY:
By noon Sunday, East Cobb was still digging out of snowy and icy weather as temperatures gradually began to rise above freezing.
Work crews were out early Sunday morning, treating roads, removing trees and restoring power. Some areas of East Cobb were affected.
The only remaining road closure in the county is in East Cobb, at the intersection of Davis Road and Holly Springs Road, according to Cobb DOT. There, power lines were tangled with trees, and even after repair work is complete, motorists are advised not to travel through that area (where the roundabout is located).
Bill Shelton, Cobb DOT’s road maintenance manager, said in a statement that “We hope to have the majority of trees cleaned up by mid-afternoon. We’ll spend much of the week picking up the debris off the right-of-way. It will be a long week, but we are up to the task.”
Cobb DOT crews treated roads overnight Saturday into Sunday, treating “black ice” on roads as temperatures dropped into the low 20s, refreezing melted snow and water. More than 50 locations were treated.
Cobb DOT crews also are dealing with tree removal issues on major roads and in county right-of-way areas today. A total of 55 calls were addressed by right before 8 a.m. Sunday, with another hundred or so remaining.
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them, as well as business or other closings or cancellations. E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Some East Cobbers were still without power this morning, some for more than a day since several inches of snow began falling on Friday afternoon.
East Cobb United Methodist Church, on Roswell Road near East Piedmont Road, did not hold services today because it’s still without electricity. The same was the case for St. Andrew United Methodist Church on Canton Road, which also cancelled a holiday concert scheduled for Sunday.
By mid Sunday morning, Cobb EMC reported that it was still working on repairing several broken utility poles in the county, including Ebenezer Road in East Cobb.
Around 5,000 Cobb EMC customers, some of them in East Cobb, were still without power by mid-morning. The agency said it cannot estimate the time when service might be restored.
Earlier this morning, Cobb EMC said it is still working in that area, and in portions along Paper Mill Road, to restore electricity. Here’s an outage map that indicates more detail; those who haven’t reported outages should call 770-429-2100.
Georgia Power offered some general time blocks for restoring power to affected areas, including by 3 p.m. in metro Atlanta and by 6 p.m. in Atlanta North.
Its latest outage map shows that most customers in metro Atlanta who have lost power have had it restored, with most remaining issues in north Georgia.
OPENINGS/CLOSINGS, ETC.
Here’s the latest on what we know, at around noon Sunday. Send your news/photos to: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll add it here, or in future posts:
Lutheran Church of the Resurrection cancelled all Sunday services and is postponing today’s Christmas Pageant and Advent Dinner to a later date;
Cactus Car Wash is open from 12-6 today;
The Pope Showcase of the Arts that was scheduled for today has been postponed to Sunday, December 17th at 7:30 p.m.;
As of now (around 12:30 p.m. Sunday), the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony concert at 4 p.m. at the Lassiter HS concert hall is still going on as scheduled;
The Johnson Ferry Christmas Festival concerts at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. are still scheduled as of now, and a makeup concert from Saturday will take place at 7 p.m. Monday;
Sunday ChrisTeen classes at Transfiguration Catholic Church (4:30 and 7:30 p.m.) are cancelled;
The Carols for Christmas concert at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church at 6 p.m. is still scheduled;
The St. Nicholas Holiday Market scheduled from 12-4 today at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Catholic Church is being postponed to next Sunday, Dec. 17, as power at the church was only restored at midnight;
The Empty Bowl Brunch today at The Art Place-Mountain View also is being postponed a week, to Sunday, Dec. 17. If you have tickets and cannot make it next week, please contact The Art Place on Monday for a refund; the event is a benefit for MUST Ministries;
A Monday holiday concert of the Sprayberry High School chorus also is cancelled since there will be no school tomorrow;
Here are some social media postings yesterday and today from around East Cobb; we’ve also been iced in at East Cobb News and are going to try and get out a little bit today!
Send news of opening/closing/cancellations and photos of the snow near you to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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The start of Friday’s snow in East Cobb, which got between 2-4 inches in two waves of storms. A winter storm warning is in effect for Cobb County, metro Atlanta and most of north Georgia until 10 a.m. Saturday. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
UPDATED, 8 P.M. FRIDAY:
The National Weather Service has extended its winter storm warning that includes Cobb to 10 a.m. Saturday, as a second wave of snow and winter weather passed through metro Atlanta and north Georgia late Friday afternoon.
Cobb was expected to get between 2-4 inches of snow overall, but those amounts are likely to vary.
Roads in Cobb and elsewhere are becoming increasingly treacherous, as Cobb DOT, Georgia DOT and other crews work to brine roadways, bridges and overpasses overnight Friday. Temperatures have generally dropped below freezing in Cobb and Saturday’s high is expected to be only 40 degrees.
The chance of “black ice” is one of the major concerns, as well as the possibility of falling trees and reduced visibility on roads due to the unexpectedly heavy amounts of snow.
Cobb libraries will be closed on Saturday, after closing at noon on Friday along with other Cobb government offices and facilities.
The second blanket of snow came through metro Atlanta later Friday evening, behind early afternoon storms that prompted school, government, business and many other closures, and as commuters, buses and other vehicles created an early, messy rush hour.
Georgia DOT is urging motorists to treat an intersection with traffic light outages as a four-way stop. They should also call 511 to report outages when they reach a safe destination.
Georgia Power and Cobb EMC were reporting scattered outages. As of 6:30 p.m., Cobb EMC reported that its outage reporting channels were down and they’re working to fix the problem.
Cobb EMC customers who have lost power can download an outage on the Cobb EMC app or call 770-429-2100. The web link still wasn’t working as of 7:30 p.m. but an link can be found here that will link to detailed outage information when it’s available online.
(At 9 p.m. Friday an East Cobb News reader called to say that the Cobb EMC power outage phone number was down, and had been down for about an hour.)
Most of the estimated 5,500 Cobb EMC customers without power as of 8 p.m. were in western and north Cobb, with outages also being reported in several parts of Northeast Cobb.
Georgia Power is asking its customers to consult its outage map but has indicated it is not able to estimate when power may restored to an affected area.
Some closings for Saturday to report are below. E-mail us at: editor@eastcobbnews.com with your news of closings, and any weather photos to share. We’ll keep updating as long as we’re in a pre-Christmas Winter Wonderland:
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has postponed Saturday’s Breakfast With Santa until next Saturday, Dec. 16, at 9 a.m.;
All events/classes at Studio 348 for Women have been cancelled for Saturday;
East Cobb Pediatrics will be closed Saturday;
Club Pilates East Cobb is closed Saturday;
St. Andrew UMC is postponing its Christmas concert to 6:30 p.m. Sunday (updating information below in this post about a 2 p.m. start);
All parish activities at Transfiguration Catholic Church will be postponed until noon Saturday. The Saturday 9 a.m. Mass will be held if weather permits.
Original report, with some updates from earlier Friday afternoon:
We’re keeping an updated tab on East Cobb weather closings for Friday, with the announcements earlier today of the early release of Cobb schools and the closing of Cobb government at noon.
Here’s what Cobb DOT sent out around 1:15 p.m. Friday:
“With conditions on Cobb County roadways deteriorating faster than expected, Cobb County Department of Transportation called in crews early and began treating trouble spots. By 12:30 traffic slowed to a crawl on many of the county’s roadways and crews manned trucks with salt to head out to the worse areas.
“DOT’s Road Maintenance Division planned on running full shifts until 2 pmSaturday, concerning falling temperatures could cause icing. Some crews concentrated at areas around schools where Cobb’s Elementary Schools, the last to dismiss early, would send buses out at 1:30 pm.
“The division’s full complement of trucks, 15 vehicles in all, will run predetermined routes treating much of the county’s 2500 miles of roadways, including state highways.
“Traffic maps at cobbcommute.org showed many of the county’s thoroughfares either running very slow or at a standstill. Officials urged people not already on the roads to avoid going out until the system moves away.”
Temperatures in Cobb and metro Atlanta are staying around freezing all day, and will be plummeting below that by Friday evening.
Information about closings is coming via e-mail, social media posts and other sources. If you know of closings (schools, businesses, churches, organizations, etc.), and especially planned activities, please let us know and we’ll share it with the community. E-mail news, photos, etc. to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Cobb schools are on early release, with the last phase elementary school students at 1:30 p.m. There will be NO extracurricular activities, including the ACT testing, which will be rescheduled
Most private schools in East Cobb are either under an early release or have closed.
Cobb government closed at 12 p.m., including libraries, which will be monitoring road conditions to determine whether to open on Saturday.
The Cobb government closures also include The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), and tonight’s Center Stage North performance of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” has been cancelled.
Roswell Road at WellStar East Cobb Health Park, shortly after 12 p.m. Friday (From Georgia 511 camera)
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them! If you know of school, church, business or other closings or cancellations too! E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Here are the latest updates about openings/closings for local businesses, organizations, churches (especially for holiday events):
The Piedmont Church’s Christmas at Piedmont festival scheduled for 5-9 Friday has been cancelled; updates about Saturday’s 10-5 session will be posted on its Instagram account;
Mt. Zion United Methodist Church has postponed its Breakfast With Santa, which was to have been from 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Saturday;
All Fidelity bank branches were closing around noon Friday;
The Lockheed-Georgia Credit Union also closed Friday around noon;
Tonight’s Christmas concert at St. Andrew United Methodist Church (3455 Canton Road) is being postponed until Sunday at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow;
Friday’s Bethlehem Walk from 7-9 at Mountain View United Methodist Church is cancelled; the final session of the holiday event is still on for the same time on Saturday;
At The Avenue East Cobb, carriage rides from 4-7 have been cancelled, but Santa Claus will be in the Santa Suite next to J. Jill for visitors and photos during that time;
The Carols for Christmas program Friday at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church has been cancelled. In its place will be a service at 6 p.m. Sunday
East Cobb Pediatrics closed at 1 p.m. Friday;
All J. Christopher’s locations closed before the normal 2 p.m. closing time;
Olde Towne Athletic Club has closed and will delay Saturday opening until 12 p.m.;
Chicago’s Steak & Seafood is closed Friday;
Seed, Stem Wine Bar and Drift are closed Friday;
The British Swim School of North Atlanta is cancelling Friday lessons and offering free makeup lessons;
Book Exchange is closing early Friday, but an author open house is still scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday;
Righteous Que is closing at 3 p.m. and is not accepting any more phone orders Friday;
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church offices have closed for Friday, and all Friday activities are cancelled. As of 2 p.m. Friday, the Christmas Festival services at 4 and 7 Saturday and regular Sunday worship services are still scheduled;
Big Peach Running Co. closed at 2 p.m. Friday and will update Saturday opening based on weather conditions;
WellStar Medical Group offices closed by 2 p.m. Friday. All WellStar Urgent Care locations were closing at 3 p.m. and are scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Saturday;
All CobbLinc public transit services will be suspended at 8 p.m. Friday and will open Saturday, with service times TBA.
Cobb DOT is urging motorists not to get on the roads if they don’t have to. Conditions are deterioarating and crews will be working to treat the roads as the day continues. To monitor the latest conditions visit the Cobb Commute site.
Sandy Plains Road at East Piedmont Road, also around 12 p.m. Friday (Georgia 511 camera)
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Release from the Cobb County Communications Office, dated Dec. 2:
Cobb County’s tireless efforts to keep the county clean were recognized at the Keep Georgia Beautiful Awards Ceremony in Atlanta. The county’s Keep Cobb Beautiful organization was recognized a half dozen times during the ceremony at the Marriott Century Center.
Erin Mulgrew was recognized as the Keep Georgia Beautiful “Woman of the Year.” Mulgrew was appointed to the Keep Cobb Beautiful Board by Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.
Barry Krebs, appointed to the Keep Cobb Beautiful Board by Commissioner Lisa Cupid, was named the organization’s “Man of the Year.”
The annual program honors individuals and organizations working to improve Georgia’s environment.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell was recognized as the “Elected Official of the Year,” an award that honors a state or local elected official that strongly supports environmental and community improvement activities. Birrell had served on KCB’s Board for ten years before she was elected to the Cobb County Board of Commissioners.
KCB was also recognized with a Waste Reduction and Recycling Award, the South Cobb Lions received the 2nd place award in the Litter Prevention category, and the local organization received first place recognition as a Keep Georgia Beautiful affiliate.
Created in 1978 by Governor George Busbee, the Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation is based on a fundamental premise that the environmental interests of the state of Georgia and the people who live here are best served when public and private interests work hand-in-hand to achieve common goals.
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The main browsing area of the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center. (East Cobb News photos and slideshow by Wendy Parker)
With a whiff of asphalt greeting patrons—the parking lot isn’t quite finished—the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center opened to the public on Monday, and quite a few people were waiting to have a look around.
Adult patrons, as well as toddlers, babies and home-schooled students and their parents, were the first to get a public tour of the 28,000-square-foot facility at 2051 Lower Roswell Road. It replaces the East Marietta Library, which was demolished last month after 50 years in service.
Built at a cost of $10.6 million, the facility is a joint project of the Cobb County Public Library System and the Cobb Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department.
In addition to a large adult browsing room, there’s also a roomy children’s section. The first event at the new library was a pre-school storytime session, and it was well-attended.
One of the parents watching her children was Kara Sutton, who grew up not far from the old East Marietta Library. She and her family live off Canton Road, and she brings her 4-1/2-year-old twins and a two-year-old to public libraries at least twice a week.
“We live closer to Gritters, and love it there,” she said. “But it’s great to have a newer space to visit.”
But the new branch is much more than a library with traditional library services. The “cultural center” component features visual and digital creative space, including a black box theater and an outdoor amphitheater where concerts and film screenings will be presented.
The opening events reflect that commitment to multi-media, including a photography class on the first evening, a comics workshop, enrichment sessions about classic filmmakers and classical music composers, as well as meetups for filmmakers and writers.
The cultural art space also includes “a digital maker space commons” with small recording rooms, an art gallery and art classrooms, conference and study rooms, a public computer room, a separate room for teenage-themed materials and a cafe.
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There will be a formal ribbon-cutting for the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center at 2 p.m. on Jan. 9. It has the same hours as the former East Marietta Library:
Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
Saturday, 1-6 p.m.;
Closed Sunday.
Parking is available behind the building, as work crews finish paving the parking lot and complete the new entrance for Sewell Park Drive at the site of the former East Marietta Library.
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The Noonday Creek Trail Head at Bells Ferry, which opened in 2014. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
On Monday afternoon the Cobb Board of Commissioners will hear a number of presentations, including an update from Chairman Mike Boyce on the Cobb budget process, at a regularly scheduled work session.
The work session begins at 1:30 p.m. in the second floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
Cobb commissioners have been holding initial discussions on what’s become a projected $30 million budget hole for fiscal year 2019.
The Cobb government fiscal year runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, but Boyce has said he wants to get an early start on tackling that deficit. He has said he will be holding town hall meetings around the county in early 2018 to solicit public feedback.
Boyce has had a rocky first year in office, in terms of budgeting and taxes. His proposal to raise the millage rate to fund the 2008 Cobb parks referendum was rejected by commissioners, especially after a heated town hall meeting at the East Cobb Senior Center.
In passing Boyce’s $402 million FY budget in September, commissioners used nearly $20 million in contingency money and temporarily delayed funding county non-profit agencies and the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
Cobb DOT commissioned an Atlanta engineering, architectural and design firm to conduct public meetings around the county, including the East Cobb Library and Covenant Presbyterian Church, to find ways to connect assorted bike and pedestrian paths and other multi-use trails (see previous East Cobb Newspost here).
The DOT was expected to report back near the end of the year with results from “stakeholder” and citizen surveys and recommendations.
On Tuesday, the commissioners will hold a business meeting, also at 7 p.m. in the same room. The top items on the agenda include a proposal to charge for Saturday parking at the county-run decks in downtown Marietta.
Cobb government charges a flat $5 rate Monday-Friday to use the lots at 115 Waddell Street and 191 Lawrence Street. The proposal would charge the same $5 rate for Saturday parking, but Sunday parking would remain free. The changes would go into effect Jan. 8, 2018.
The recognitions at Tuesday’s meeting include the Dickerson Middle School Percussion Ensemble, which has been selected to perform in the Music For All National Percussion Festival in Indianapolis in March 2018.
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A Cobb County government aerial photo of the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, taken earlier in October. The new branch opens Dec. 4.
The Cobb County Public Library System confirmed today that the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center is opening on its projected start date of Monday, Dec. 4.
The doors will open at 10 a.m., and the address is the same as the East Marietta Library it’s replacing: 2051 Lower Roswell Road.
Some of the initial special events at the new library begin the following day, Dec. 5, taking full advantage of the 28,000 square feet of space that includes a variety of cultural art space, including an amphitheater, black box theater, an art gallery and art classrooms, a recording studio and more.
Those activities include writers and filmmakers groups, a photography class, film and orchestral music enrichment programs, classic movie screenings and concerts.
“Sewell Mill is decidedly about creative space and collaboration, from individuals concentrating on expressing their artistic skills to crowds enjoying musical and theatrical performances alongside traditional library space,” said Cobb County Library Director Helen Poyer said in a statement. “This is a major and unique community asset that all of Cobb County will be proud to use and visit.”
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Before the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to raise user fees for a variety of county services, some East Cobb seniors voiced their opposition to the proposals.
It didn’t prevent the commissioners from voting 5-0 to levy increases, including a first-time membership fee for seniors, as they seek to find ways to close an expected $30 million budget hole for fiscal year 2019.
The senior membership fee was reduced from a proposed $100 a year per person to $60 at the request of Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who said she was concerned about seniors on a fixed income.
Of the increases overall, she said “it’s something we’ve talked about for years, and it’s much needed.”
Hope Notice, a regular at the East Cobb Senior Center, said she thought that “the raising of fees seemed to be an afterthought.” She said the membership fees are “utterly ridiculous,” and noted that seniors in Woodstock pay only $10 and in Roswell, the annual fee is $25 and includes the use of a swimming pool.
“I realize you need to raise fees, but please find other ways to raise money,” she said. “These increases are more than the norm.”
The membership fees would apply to use of any senior center in Cobb County. Commission chairman Mike Boyce said that while the fee increases approved Tuesday apply to many other services, the only e-mails he has received have come from seniors.
Shirley Scaff, another regular at the East Cobb Senior Center, told commissioners before the vote that she meets there often as part of the Knit Wits knitting group, and also belongs to a crocheting circle. She said the socializing and other benefits of staying active through the center’s many programs are vital for her and others.
“We have members from [age] 60 to 95,” she said. “We enjoy the companionship and the fellowship” and being active “keeps the mind going.” A membership fee, she said, would be “a hardship.”
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott supported the $100 fee structure. He noted that there is a sliding scale available and that the Cobb Citizens Oversight Committee recommended increases several years ago.
The increased senior fees will go into effect on Feb. 1, 2018, along with increases the commissioners also approved Tuesday for aquatics, athletics, gymnastics and tennis fees; arts fees; picnic pavilion rentals; rentals for the Cobb Civic Center and performing arts venues; and for recreation and community centers as well as library proctoring services and meeting room rentals.
Fees to file for zoning certificates also will go up in 2018, from $40 to $100, and from $200 to $300 for film permits.
The cost for business licenses also is increasing, and will take effect on Oct. 1, 2018. The current range is $102 a year to nearly $15,000 a year (with several tiers based on gross revenues). The new fees will range from $112 to $16,400 annually.
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The Mabry Park Master Plan was approved in 2011, but funding wasn’t provided due to budget cuts during the recession.
On Tuesday, after years of delays, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved Mabry Park funding. More specifically, they authorized a construction contract that would convert a slice what was once a large farm spread in Northeast Cobb into a major passive park.
The construction contract for $2.85 million was approved unanimously, in a 5-0 vote, a month after the commissioners delayed the vote.
There was little discussion Tuesday about the contract, which was awarded to Integrated Construction and Nobility, Inc.. The park, which will be built on 26.5 acres on Wesley Chapel Road at Sandy Plains Road, is expected to be completed in 2019.
Mabry Park will include walking trails, picnic areas, a community garden, playground areas and more on land that includes a large pond.
The construction will also include the development of a paved road into the park from Wesley Chapel Road. In 2008, the county spent $4.3 million in funding from the 2006 Cobb parks SPLOST to purchase the former farm land owned by Ed and Sue Mabry.
While the construction funding came out of the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST, the yearly cost for operating Mabry Park comes out of the county general fund. That was the reason for delaying the vote in October, right before the commissioners held their budget retreat.
Resolving how to pay for recurring expenses from a SPLOST project was one of the subjects at the retreat. A one-time cost of $22,230 for equipment and maintenance tools will be funded after construction is complete.
Mabry Park’s annual operating cost will be $104,992; of that $72,122 will go for staff salaries and benefits, and $31,800 is estimated for yearly supplies and utilities.
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After being delayed last month, a $2.85 million Mabry Park construction contract is expected to be voted on Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
Approval of the contract was tabled last month at the behest of commission Chairman Mike Boyce until after a budget retreat.
One of the topics at the retreat was how to fund permanent operations out of the annual county budget for projects like Mabry Park that are approved by Cobb voters in the Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) referenda.
Mabry Park, which would be built on 26.5 acres on Wesley Chapel Road at Sandy Plains Road, comes with a projected operating cost of nearly $105,000 a year once it opens in 2019.
At the Oct. 24 commission meeting, Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, a strong advocate for the Mabry Park project was was formerly in her district, was upset by the decision to delay, as were Northeast Cobb residents who’ve been waiting more than a decade for the park.
Boyce and East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, whose recently redrawn district includes Mabry Park, said it was necessarily to hold off final approval, if only temporarily.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the commissioners will consider proposals to raise fees for a number of county-related services, including business licenses, filing fees for zoning, and for parks and recreational uses, arts classes and other public services.
Another item on the agenda would appropriate $850,000 in county funds for a number of non-profit service organizations, including the Cobb Center for Family Resources, Family Promise of Cobb County, MUST Ministries, Communities in Schools for Marietta/Cobb and SafePath Children’s Advocacy.
Commissioners delayed voting on that funding during its budget deliberations in September.
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A startling new figure was tossed out at the Cobb Board of Commissioners retreat earlier this week: a projected Cobb budget deficit of around $30 million.
The commissioners met in Austell Monday and Tuesday to get an early start on the fiscal year 2019 budget, a month into fiscal 2018, which they had to balance with $20.8 million in contingency funding.
Cobb Commission chairman Mike Boyce. (East Cobb News file photo)
They discussed a wide variety of budget priorities and options, but made no decisions. The rise in the budget deficit projection is attributed to an increase in health care costs, among other expenses.
“We’re basically nine or ten months ahead of where we usually are when it comes to developing a budget for this county,” Cobb Commission chairman Mike Boyce said in a statement Tuesday. “Today we’ve done something that hasn’t been done in the past as far as having something in October for a fiscal year that starts ten months from now.”
Boyce said the information and perspectives offered at the retreat will assist in formulating a budget proposal by early next year.
He said he will schedule town hall meetings around the county next spring, similar to what he did this summer with a proposed property tax millage rate that was ultimately rejected by the commissioners.
The Cobb government fiscal year budget runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30, and commissioners set the millage late late in the budget process, in August.
Commissioners voted not to raise the millage rate this year, including East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell.
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A Cobb County government aerial photo of the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, taken earlier in October. The new branch opens Dec. 4.
The opening of the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) is still a little more than a month away—Dec. 4—but there’s a full slate of activities for the first month that’s already been scheduled.
James Mitchell of the library staff has passed along a schedule of what’s coming up in December, and it features a wide variety of events: from writers and filmmakers meetups, classic film screenings, a photography class, a music enrichment session with the conductor of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, concerts, a regular Open Mic night and more.
That’s because the $10.6 million Sewell Mill Library goes far beyond books to include study and training rooms, a conference room, dedicated children’s and teen spaces, a community room, an art gallery and classrooms, an outdoor amphitheater and a black box theater.
We’ve posted these events to our full calendar listings; you can click on the links below for the full event information:
Writers Groups: Meeting every Tuesday at 6 p.m., these groups can include any genre or focus. The first meeting is Dec. 5;
What Does An Orchestra Conductor Listen To?: Tim Verville, Music Director of the Marietta-based Georgia Symphony Orchestra, shares his musical tastes, which venture far beyond classical in two sessions on Dec. 8;
The films of French director Jean-Luc Godard will be featured Dec. 9 in the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center’s first Great Directors Series installment.
Great Directors Series: The work of legendary filmmakers will be explored every other Saturday for adults only, starting with Jean-Luc Godard and Akira Kurosawa on Dec. 9 and 23 respectively;
Making Comics Workshop: Local comic artists Carlos Perez and Ananya Vahal will lead adults and teens 14 in a Dec. 9 workshop with limited space. Registration is recommended;
The Private Pageant Concert: Marietta electronica/dance/rock musician Tim Exit performs his mixed-genre show at the library’s Black Box Theater on Dec. 9;
Open Mic Night: Starting Dec. 12, musicians of any genre are welcome in the Black Box Theater;
Classic Movie Thursday: This weekly series starts with an Alfred Hitchcock flick on Dec. 14, followed by John Wayne, John Ford and Michael Curtiz in December. You’re invited to bring food and drink to enjoy with the film;
Filmmaking Meetup: Writers, directors and actors of all kinds are welcome at the first meetup on Dec. 19.
We’ll have more details on the opening of the library when they become available.
This reminder: If you were a patron of the East Marietta Library you can pick up materials ordered on hold at the Switzer Library in downtown Marietta or another branch of your designation.
If you checked out materials at East Marietta branch that are due, those also can be dropped off at any Cobb library system branch.
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Chairman Mike Boyce’s proposed millage rate increase was shot down by his fellow commissioners in August. (East Cobb News file photo)
After a contentious year of haggling over the property tax millage rate and the fiscal year 2018 budget, Cobb commissioners are spending Monday and Tuesday on a retreat to figure out future plans for handling spending concerns.
Chairman Mike Boyce and the four district commissioners will be meeting at the Threadmill Complex in Austell for a day-and-a-half of meetings and discussions. Last month the board adopted a $403.4 million FY 2018 spending plan that included the use of $20 million in contingency spending.
The county is facing another $20 million deficit for fiscal year 2019.
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll get there,” Boyce said in a statement issued Friday. “What I’m trying to do is bring in a process where we as a Board collectively knows what the issues are then the Board gives me some guidance on how to build this budget.”
The budget battles also sparked conflicts between East Cobb’s two commissioners. JoAnn Birrell suggested closing the East Cobb Library. Bob Ott, whose district includes the library, proposed closing another library in his district and making organizational changes to the East Cobb Government Service Center.
Ultimately, the commissioners voted to close no libraries but delayed funding additional staff for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center until after the budget was adopted.
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott voted against a millage rate increase, and vowed not to do so to balance the FY 2018 budget. (East Cobb News file photo)
For similar reasons this week, commissioners also delayed a vote to approve a construction contract for Mabry Park.
The Sewell Mill Library and Mabry Park cases center around one of the main items on the retreat agenda: Funding recurring operational and maintenance costs for facilities approved through the SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax).
Northeast Cobb residents have waited for a decade for a passive park in their community, and Boyce and Ott in particular pledged that Mabry Park would be built. They also were adamant that new policies for funding continuing expenses have to be ironed out.
It’s a seemingly perplexing position for Cobb commissioners to be in, given that Cobb reported a record tax digest this year of $33 billion.
In the first big test of his administration, Boyce didn’t get enough support from commissioners to raise the property tax millage rate. His proposal to boost the rate 0.13 to fully fund the 2008 Cobb Parks Bond Referendum was voted down 3-2, with only South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid in support.
Boyce, who defeated incumbent chairman Tim Lee last year, pledged to support parks funding. But the Cobb Parks Coalition issued a statement before the millage rate vote saying fulfilling the referendum didn’t require a tax increase.
At a heated town hall meeting in July at the East Cobb Senior Center, many residents spoke out against a tax hike, which Ott and Birrell also opposed.
Boyce, who is a first-time elected official, issued a comment at that meeting that has been a common refrain at times during his first year in office.
“I have to pay for what your commissioners passed last year,” Boyce said. “It’s a bill that’s come due.”
Not for the first time, Mabry Park construction plans have been put on hold. The three members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners who voted on Tuesday to table the item are pledging that it won’t be for long, but that it must be done.
The Northeast Cobb commissioner who fought long and hard for her community to have a passive park doesn’t think any further delays are necessary, even though this one may be for only a month.
“It’s long overdue,” commissioner JoAnn Birrell said, choking up with emotion and pleading for her colleagues to approve a $2.85 million construction contract at Tuesday’s regular meeting. “I see no reason to hold this.”
By a 3-2 vote, however, the commissioners voted to table approval of the contract, to Integrated Construction and Nobility, Inc., with the measure slated to be taken up again on Nov. 14.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce wants Mabry Park and other projects approved by voters through SPLOST referendums to be reviewed for long-term operations and maintenance costs, since that funding comes out of the annual county budget.
The SPLOST impact statements and a policy proposed by Boyce to govern them are among the topics at a commissioners retreat next week. That’s why Boyce said he sought the delay.
By law, projects approved via SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax) must be funded. How to pay for their recurring expenses has been a vexing one for commissioners, who recently voted to spend $20 million in reserve money to balance the fiscal year 2018 budget.
“The project that got caught between a rock and a hard place is Mabry Park,” Boyce said. “We’re going to commit to these parks, but we have a bigger problem here and we need to solve this now.”
Boyce was supported by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, whose district now includes Mabry Park, and Bob Weatherford.
Tabling the Mabry Park contract approval comes a week after the commissioners hotly debated additional funding for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, another SPLOST project that has more staff and higher operational costs than the East Marietta Library it is replacing.
The Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs has indicated that once that complete, Mabry Park will incur an initial one-time cost of $22,230 for maintenance tools and equipment. Starting with the fiscal year 2019 budget, ongoing annual expenses are estimated to be $104,922. Of that total, $73,122 will go for staff salaries and benefits, and another $31,800 is projected for utilities and operational supplies.
Birrell cited the decade-long process of SPLOST approval, the development of the park master plan and the formation of the Friends of Mabry Park citizens group, which has raised more than $60,000 to help fund the project, located on 26.5 acres at Wesley Chapel Road and Sandy Plains Road.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell represented the area around Mabry Park until this year following redistricting. (East Cobb News file photo)
“It’s a crying shame that we’re still discussing the construction of Mabry Park,” she said.
But Ott, who inherited the Mabry Park area this year due to redistricting, said it’s prudent for a delay so the board can work through the impact statement policy.
“We cannot continue to build things and not open them because they’re not funded,” Ott said.
He also pointed to unfinished projects in his district, including Hyde Farm (whose proponents have raised more than $350,000) and shifting $1 million in sidewalk funding as part of a series of “very difficult” decisions that have had to be made because of existing commitments.
Hania Whitfield, a former executive board member of the Friends of Mabry Park, was one of several citizens who spoke Tuesday to urge the commissioners to approve the construction contract.
“Many have lost faith they will be able to use the park,” especially seniors, she said. “There is an indisputable lack of green space access in the Northeast Cobb portion of the county.”
Boyce, supported by parks advocates during his successful campaign last year to oust former chairman Tim Lee, said the need to hammer out an impact statement policy can’t be postponed.
“We have to stop and put this together,” he said. “We have to start with something.
“Once we get this process in place, we will never have this problem again.”
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The long-delayed development of a passive park in Northeast Cobb could formally come to fruition Tuesday night. On the Cobb Board of Commissioners regular meeting agenda is an item that would provide funding for a Mabry Park construction contract.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 2nd floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC building, 100 Cherokee, St., in downtown Marietta.
Alow-bid proposal of $2.85 million was submitted by Integrated Construction and Nobility, Inc., of Whitesburg, Ga., to develop the 26.5-acre tract of land at 4470 Wesley Chapel Road designated for Mabry Park.
The county purchased the Mabry Park land with funding from the 2006 Cobb Parks Bond Program, but has nothing further due to the recession.
In August, bids for the construction project went out, and the Friends of Mabry Park citizens group was ecstatic. The group has tempered its enthusiasm somewhat because of longer-term funding issues.
A message on the Friends of Mabry Park Facebook page urged supporters to turn out for Tuesday’s meeting because “we need to let the Board know how important Mabry Park is to our area!!” Here’s more:
“We’re not home free yet… While the park was voted on and approved by the residents of Cobb, funded in the SPLOST and is required to be built, there are rumors that it could be delayed while funding for future maintenance is resolved.
“It’s been 11 years since the County purchased the land. We’ve waited long enough…”
The Mabry Park construction contract item comes on the heels of the commission’s delayed vote earlier this month to fund additional staffing for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
Commissioners adopted a fiscal year 2018 budget in September that includes contingency funding to close a $21 million shortfall. This came not long after they declined to increase the property tax millage rate.
While Cobb voters have approved new facilities in the SPLOST, annual funding of operations comes from the county budget, and commissioners have hotly debated how to resolve the issue.
In a related item on Tuesday’s agenda, the board will vote on choosing a contractor for sidewalk improvements that include servicing Mabry Park once it’s developed. A low bid of $783,000 for the 0.4-mile project was submitted by Excellere Construction of East Cobb.
The sidewalk will be built on the east side of Wesley Chapel Road from Garrison Mill Elementary School to Sandy Plains Road, connecting pedestrians to nearby subdivisions as well as Mabry Park.
Cobb Police Chief Mike Register (third from left) and commissioner JoAnn Birrell (center) with members of the Bells Ferry Civic Association at Saturday’s Keep Cobb Beautiful project. (Cobb Police Department photo)
Press release:
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, Police Chief Mike Register, and about a dozen of his officers joined a group pounding the pavement to clean up the Bells Ferry Road corridor on Saturday. The county leaders joined members of the Bells Ferry Civic Association in the effort. The Association keeps tabs on the stretch of Bells Ferry near I-575 as part of the “Adopt-a-Mile” program. Keep Cobb Beautiful runs the “Adopt-a-Mile” program. The group spent several hours cleaning up the shoulders and curbs, finding everything from cigarette butts to car parts to bottles and cans. In the end, they filled nearly 30 bags of trash. This was the second time Chief Register brought his officers to a community cleanup. “It’s not all about catching criminals,” Register said. “It’s that partnership with the community that is very valuable and very precious and doing things like this brings us closer together as a community.” “It means a lot to the community to keep our county clean, and we’re happy to show we’re willing to contribute to that,” said Commissioner Birrell.
The proposed Paprik’a restaurant is located at the former sites of a Pizza Hut and Donny’s Home Cooking on Sandy Plains Road. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a request for a liquor license for a proposed Northeast Cobb restaurant that has been fought by nearby residents for the last two years.
By a 4-1 vote, the commissioners granted the alcohol permit to Naseeb Rana of Kasbah Corp., who wants to open the Paprik’a Restaurant at 4674 Sandy Plains Road. The space has been empty since 2015, and is adjacent to the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center, at Sandy Plains and Woodstock Road (Highway 92).
Only commissioner JoAnn Birrell, whose district included the area until last year, voted against Rana’s application. The commissioners took up the matter after Rana appealed a denial for a pouring license by the Cobb License Review Board.
Residents from the Chatsworth, Jefferson Park and Jefferson Township neighborhoods, located just south of the commercial area off Sandy Plains, have said Rana has not been forthcoming with her plans since trying to get the alcohol license.
The star signifies the proposed Paprik’a restaurant site. Click for a larger view.
They said she hasn’t always communicated with the neighborhood about her plans and expressed concern about traffic and parking issues.
“This application has been denied twice, and there have been so many red flags,” said Lisa Hanson, representing the Chatsworth Homeowners Association. “We are all for a renovated building.”
Hanson said Rana initially had proposed opening a nightclub at the location that would be open very late, and a stop-work order was issued. Those events, Hanson said, “made us question whether this application was following law.”
Both Rana, a graduate of Lassiter High School, and her attorney, Lisa Morchower, denied there were ever plans for a nightclub. Rana said she wants to have valet parking for Paprik’a since there’s limited space around the building, and explained that she has revised her menu to reflect her business’ primary function as a restaurant.
Morchower said the proposed hours for Paprik’a would be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Rana said she was being unfairly “targeted” by the community, and insisted that her restaurant is similar to others in the area. “I don’t see why my small restaurant will make such a big impact,” she said.
Sandra Richardson, the Cobb business license manager, said the Paprik’a site was originally a Pizza Hut that opened in 1998 and served alcohol. After that, a restaurant called Donny’s Home Cooking operated at the location until 2015 but did not serve liquor.
Hanson said nearby residents have also dealt with noise issues from the Movie Tavern, which opened in 2013, with garbage trucks making pickups late at night. She said there have been numerous violations of other stipulations by DDR Sandy Plains, the shopping center property owner.
But commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the area, said he was satisfied with the application and said that if traffic and parking ever become an issue, the community can raise them at that time.
“We have to let the restaurant open before we know,” he said, adding that Rana’s appeal hearing often felt like a zoning hearing. “Alcohol doesn’t increase traffic. Ms. Rana has her work cut out for her, but she’s made a tremendous effort to change her menu.”
Ott said that unlike a zoning, a liquor license holder has to satisfy all stipulations and be approved for renewals yearly.
Birrell said: “I’ve heard the concerns of the community, and I cannot support this.”
The Sandy Plains Village area has been in transition recent years. It was the location of a Kroger and Stein Mart before the Movie Tavern opened. A Walmart Neighborhood Grocery also opened there in 2013 but closed earlier this year.
After a brief but sometimes testy conversation Tuesday morning, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved the completion of funding for the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center on Lower Roswell Road.
The board voted 3-2 to spend $284,227 to fund five full- and part-time positions for fiscal year 2018 in order to proceed with the opening of the new facility on Dec. 4.
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, chairman Boyce and commissioner Bob Weatherford voted yes; commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Lisa Cupid voted no.
Operations at the East Marietta Library, located adjacent to the new Sewell Mill branch, are expected to wind down this week.
The funding includes the transfer of $94,491 from the budget for the East Cobb Government Service Center, which will move some of its business office functions to the tag office in the same building (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
Ott said he worked with staff from the Cobb library, parks and public services staff to pare down the price tag for the Sewell Mill Library funding from around $700,000 to less than $300,000. The funding source is from “one-time monies” that has become a touchy topic on the commission as it voted this summer not to raise the property tax millage rate and as it adopted the FY 2018 budget with nearly $20 million in contingency funding.
That approved budget didn’t include Sewell Mill Library funding. Ott and Boyce said the county was obligated to move ahead with the transition now due to contractual obligations in demolishing the East Marietta Library building, creating a parking lot for the new library and rebuilding the road that leads into the adjacent Sewell Park.
“The reality is we have a $10 million investment the board has known about for years, and it’s been dropped in my lap,” Boyce said, then veering into a philosophical statement.
“Libraries reflect the culture of our society,” he said. “It is important to open up this facility that residents have been expecting for a long time.”
The East Marietta Library opened in 1967.
Birrell and Cupid objected to funding the Sewell Mill Library now, saying they wanted take up the matter at a commissioners retreat later this month. Birrell suggested a delay in opening the new branch until January.
“I understand that we can’t build things like this and then leave them empty,” she said. “My concern is the timing.”
Cupid concurred: “Why this can’t wait another 20 days is beyond me.”
She cited other unmet funding requests—including Cobb non-profits, the purchase of police body cameras and wish lists from other government agencies—as equally valid, and questioned the wisdom of using contingency funding for sustained expenses.
“There’s no way of knowing if we’re going to have this money year after year after year,” Cupid said.
Ott, who had suggested closing another library in his district, the Lewis A. Ray branch in Smyrna, to solve the contingency problem, became visibly upset.
“Don’t sit here and make inaccuracies,” Ott snapped, demanding that Cupid not interrupt him. “You did not reach out to address your concerns.”
Cupid said the finalized agenda item for Tuesday’s meeting came to her late.
Boyce said the vote over Sewell Mill Library funding is “the first of many battles we’re going to have” because the board voted against his proposal in July to raise the millage rate 0.13 mills (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
Weatherford said that amounts to just $4 million, or one percent, of the overall county budget, so “blaming everything on that vote is erroneous.”
Birrell, who had suggested closing the East Cobb Library during the budget process, reiterated her concerns of getting into a habit of dipping into contingency.
“We’re going to be digging a deeper deficit that we’re never going to overcome with one-time money,” she said.
At a town hall meeting in August (East Cobb Newspost here), East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said he was reviewing operations at the East Cobb Government Service Center to find cost savings.
That was in response to a proposal by East Cobb’s other commissioner, JoAnn Birrell, to close the East Cobb Library (which didn’t happen when the commission adopted the FY 2018 budget a couple weeks ago), and due to a $21 million budget gap.
The review has been complete, and Ott said on Friday that he is proposing a restructuring of the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) that he will present formally at a commission meeting Tuesday.
In his weekly e-mail newsletter, Ott said he is recommending to close the business office only at the government center (where you pay property taxes and water bills and apply for business licenses).
Everything else will remain open—the Cobb police and fire precincts, the community rooms and the tag office. In his proposed changes, Ott wants to transfer the services provided at the business office (except for the water bills) across the hall to the tag office. Here’s what he’s sharing with the public for now:
“As a result of discussions between staff and Carla Jackson, Cobb County Tax Commissioner, those services will be available in the tag office. So, if you pay your property taxes or renew your business license at the government center you will still be able to just in a different location. Some have expressed concerns about potential lines and wait times. This year when I renewed my vehicle registration there were only three people in the line so I don’t anticipate long lines after the restructuring. “The only service which will not be available at the tag office is paying your water bill. Currently, there are approximately 150 people using that service which makes it hard to justify $200,000 in expenses. Additionally, everyone can pay their water bill online if they don’t want to mail in their payment.
“As you can see, for most in East Cobb the restructuring will mean little change.”
There is a proposal at Tuesday’s commission meeting to divert nearly $95,000 from the government service center operations to fund increased operating expenses of the soon-to-open Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
The agenda item (pp. 238-240) includes the addition of one full-time and five part-time staff for the new facility, which is replacing the East Marietta Library and is slated to open in December. There also are four new staff positions listed under the Cobb Parks and Recreation budget for cultural center operations.
The commissioners did not include funding for the new library when they adopted the budget, saying they would return to resolve the issue this month. The transfer of $94,491 from the government service center budget would make the proposed new library funding total $284,227 for FY 2018.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today (Oct. 4) applauded committee passage of legislation he cosponsored to continue the state Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, for five years.
The bipartisan Keeping Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure Act, S.1827, also transitions CHIP to its traditional federal-state partnership over time and provides additional protections for low-income children and flexibility for states.
During his opening remarks, Isakson reiterated his commitment to ensuring payments to safety-net hospitals are extended before the end of the year. Isakson highlighted the negative impact to Georgia hospitals if payments to disproportionate-share hospitals that treat uninsured patients in Georgia are reduced. Under the current Affordable Care Act law, payments to safety-net hospitals are now eligible to be cut unless Congress acts to keep the payments at current levels.
“In Georgia, that’s going to be a loss of $780 million over seven years to our most needy hospitals,” said Isakson. “It’s going to mean people most in need of health care are not going to have it there. The [Affordable Care Act’s] promise was that everyone would be insured, so disproportionate-share payments would be withdrawn.”
These safety-net hospitals receive some federal funding through Medicaid and CHIP for accepting low-income patients, but Obamacare would begin withdrawing these payments in 2018 under the flawed premise that all individuals receiving hospital care would have insurance.
“Our experience has found that not to be true,” said Isakson. “These hospitals are treating people and not being compensated, and if we continue to reduce DSH [disproportionate-share hospital] payments, we’ll see that many hospitals that are open today will not be open. So I will be working between now and the end of the year, hopefully with all of you, to extend the [current] DSH payments for two more years, at least until 2018 and 2019.”
At today’s committee vote on the CHIP legislation, Isakson filed two amendments to the Keeping Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure Act to extend DSH payments for 2018 and 2019 and to provide greater fairness for hospitals in states such as Georgia that have a high uninsured population. Although the amendments could not be attached to the CHIP measure under the Finance Committee’s rules, Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, committed to working in the weeks ahead on extending other health care programs with expiring authorizations.
The Keeping Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure Act, passed the Senate Committee on Finance by a voice vote and now moves to the full Senate for consideration.
The Keeping Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure Act would:
Extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program funding through fiscal year 2022;
Maintain the federal matching rate at current statutory levels through fiscal year 2019, change to 11.5 percent for fiscal year 2020, and return to a traditional matching rate for fiscal years 2021 and 2022;
Create protections and flexibility under the maintenance-of-effort provision.
